Revised noise limits are in the pipeline for both passenger and truck tyres, while discussion on tyre abrasion rate and particulate emissions is ongoing and limits may be set in the future. These limits must be chosen so as to strike a balance between possible risk to public health and well-being, financial considerations, and the public’s civic freedom.

Legislative measures such as limits on tyre particulate emissions must be effective (actually decrease the targeted health risks), efficient (doing so in a way that represents a good cost/benefit ratio for society), and enforceable (based on reliable and reproducible methods). This means the chosen limits must be based on a solid body of evidence, which the methods arrived at in LEON-T will allow.

We will create a policy recommendation document directed towards the European Comission suggesting suitable methods, limits and estimated impact (cost/benefit comparison) for policies to mitigate against the (potential) contribution from car tyres to microplastics pollution stemming, to airborne particulate exposure, and to exposure to traffic noise along extra-urban roads.

The proposed policy measures will be evaluated and selected under a carefully performed cost-benefit analysis using the most updated data, taking into account the life-cycle costs and expected societal and environmental benefits of applying different policy scenarios – to the best of available knowledge – following the European Comission Better Regulation Toolbox).